A Flashy Entrance
by unjaundiced
Summary: The night Hatake Kakashi was born, there was a massive storm. ward!Fic, with necessary OCs


First ward fic from the Seasons in the Sun series [same universe as Phish Phood]. There are OCs, but it's a little necessary

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**A Flashy Entrance**

It was a brisk autumn night in Fire Country. The harvest moon hid her sallow face behind veils of clouds, peeking out shyly from time to time to glimpse the sleepy village buried in the heart of the forest below. A trio of magnificent stone faces jut out from the sheer walls of a high cliff face, staring blankly over the tops of the trees. The village itself radiated outwards from a tall columnar building marked with the 火 kana to blur into the forest like long-forgotten ruins.

The streets were quiet and dark, watched over by shadowy ghosts with porcelain faces, perched on red-planked roofs turned a gritty black by the dim light. Pale mud walls ringed the city like heavy grey bones with a dark spine of red tile turned black by night. The green entrance gate lay barred, inky black あ and ん kana meeting on a sea of dull grey; the beginning and the end. Konohagakure, experiencing a brief respite from violence, rested uneasily between wars.

A flash of white disturbed the sullen darkness, marking a quick line through the あ and ん. Porcelain masks in shapes of stylized animal faces swiveled to follow the movement in silence. One mask in the shape of a bull tilted towards the shadowed moon, a faint sheen of frost glimmering across it, before sinking into the gloom of an alleyway. There was a tense feeling emanating from a point on the far side of the village where the white flash had been headed. An investigation might need to be instigated.

In a distant compound, sprawling indolently into expansive fields and crawling up the side of Hokage Monument, just under Shodaime's head, a quiet sort of chaos reigned. A heavily pregnant woman paced across tatami mats, stopping every so often to clutch at her belly and bite her lip against a cry. She wore a powdery blue yukata dappled with clouds, lightly padded to ward against the autumn chill. Her pale silvery-white hair was caught in a dark blue ribbon at the nape of her neck in a perfect compliment to her stormy grey eyes. Even on the cusp of childbirth, she was hauntingly beautiful in skin as pale as porcelain; fragile boned and shored up by a will of steel that pulsed around her in white-hot chakra flashes.

She was hardly alone, though the property seemed bare. Around her thrummed a wordless voice, wrapping itself around her in questions she couldn't answer. A pack of large dogs followed her with their eyes, quivering and twitching with her every movement. A large black-vested white dog with shaggy hair paced at her side, leaning against her thigh to ground her as she paced. Its mismatched eyes stayed trained on the motion of her hand over her swollen belly; a strange complement of glacier-blue-white and the deep brown of roasted chestnuts. A faint blue ripple began to solidify at the edge of the compound, jagged white at the edges and pulsing lightly around a recently-carved nafuda bearing the はたけ kana near an alleyway gate.

Kamon writhed a little in anxiety, tasting an unusual tension in the air. It had been a long time since it had tasted such a thing and it was having a hard time remembering what it meant. It reached out in the form of chakra to touch the chakra of those it protected. The large cold pond in the rear garden roiled with a rainbow of chaotic chakra pulses, flailing like long ribbons in a torrent of different tastes; a chorus of emotions battling for existence. Guarding the shoji door, the familiar aquamarine pulse of Toshiki, a large black and tan dog wearing a black armored vest marked with the Konoha Leaf above 白牙 kana, vibrated with flashes of purples and whites; flavoured with an unfamiliar kind of excitement.

Kamon trilled curiously as it stroked him, sparking off the agitated fringes of his chakra. Inside, Nanori's pacing stirred tendrils of its chakra as it reached out to comfort her. It jumped and twitched gleefully in the air around her as staticky bolts of white lightning chakra zinged outwards with each pulse. Masaru's milky green chakra danced gently alongside her, absorbing chakra surges large enough to cause physical damage to the house.

The dignified blue chakra of the black wolf-like pack leader, Arashi, pulsed over Kamon's in a seeking manner. Kamon was almost too excited to pay him heed, gleefully swaying with Nanori's movements, ruffling the chakra of the other dogs. It remembered the distinct taste of this particular kind of tension now. Its chakra vibrated the air into a static thickness, lifting the fur of the pack.

_Kamon_.

Kamon stopped trilling at the sudden exertion of will. Arashi's chakra was pulsing authoritatively, swirling deep navies over soft indigo, demanding its attention. It reached out to touch him, almost in fear of reprimand. It read an overwhelming sense of anxiety, of a strange waiting; a question. Almost pondering, Kamon retreated a little, expanding beyond the walls of the compound in a translucent fluid motion; seeking.

Nanori stumbled suddenly, with a white hot flare of chakra that had the pack rising as one. Masaru flinched as his chakra was momentarily overwhelmed, letting out an unconscious whimper. Arashi's chakra pulsed with urgency, making demands Kamon couldn't satisfy. The dogs bustled against Nanori, guiding her towards a futon in the corner. Outside, Toshiki's chakra flared at their collective spike of tension. Absently, Kamon settled a heavy wave of calm over him as he rose up on trembling haunches. _Stay_.

Kamon trembled as it sensed something coming, brushing on the periphery of its farthest tendrils, deep in the heart of the Ninth District. Kusenbou, Konoha's master ward system, tingled along its right borders, questioning its far reach with a vibrant green chakra that demanded answers or a retreat. Kamon shrank back, unwilling to respond to the challenge, sneakily stretching out a small arm, just out of the reach of Kusenbou's senses. It didn't want to disobey its more powerful sibling, but it had secrets of its own to keep. Kusenbou would be informed soon enough if all went well.

Kusenbou's chakra pulsed firmly, pushing Kamon back towards the Hatake compound with what would have been an exasperated scolding had it been human. Kamon was well known for being curious and for straying beyond its own house. This would not be the first nor the last time Kusenbou had to discipline the playful ward. Kamon seemed to titter in miniscule pulses of faint blue-white, dancing away from Kusenbou's inexorable push, sending out the smallest of tendrils out every so often, still trying to reach further into the district without waking any of the other ward systems or arousing Kusenbou's suspicion.

Kusenbou stopped pushing Kamon halfway through the district, trusting it to return home. Shadows were stirring and it needed to investigate what was agitating the ANBU. Kakuremon, ANBU's principal ward system, was pulsing a distracting purple-tinged black that demanded attention. _Hurry_.

A white flash of chakra brushed against Kusenbou's awareness, heading towards the Hatake compound, and it seemed to sigh in relief before directing one more firm jade green pulse towards a retreating Kamon. _Go home_.

Kamon seemed to wriggle impishly before withdrawing rapidly with the white spot of chakra flying through the streets. Kusenbou seemed to swell, then sigh; sending out tentative tendrils to make sure the sneaky ward wasn't playing any tricks before refocusing its attention towards Kakuremon, slowly pulsing from ANBU headquarters, deep in the heart of the mountain. It seemed to firm, chakra darkening from a pale jade to a deep dark emerald. _Coming_.

Kamon couldn't speak, but it could still understand emotion and it tasted Sakumo's fear as he pushed his way through the gate, white sleeves flashing like eerie ghosts as he passed. It seemed to writhe at the sour taste of the twisted chakra that lingered in the open gateway. A violent flare of purple and white towards the main doors of the house heralded Toshiki's greeting. Sakumo's chakra briefly dimmed from a painful white to a dull throb in response, flaring up again as Toshiki followed him in. Kamon roiled a bit at the gate in indecision before firming up and pressing forward.

The gates swung shut as a mass of chakra the color of deep azure swelled and pulsed just inside the main courtyard of the Hatake compound. Large claws were the first things to appear, gouging deeply into the dirt that marked the front walk. Equally large paws, opaque white swirled over by cerulean, came next, leaving dense imprints. A forest of legs danced forward eagerly, followed by a series of deep chests, then broad snapping heads with glowing white eyes. Within moments, a pack of dogs barred the gate, throbbing in swirls of whites and blues, tongues flopping happily over gaping jaws. The largest of the dogs pawed the ground in excitement before bounding towards the main building followed by a rambunctious pack, all connected to the compound walls by the faintest trail of chakra.

Kamon crashed through the doors as a flash of white arced through the room, punching a hole through one of the washi-covered slides to char a hapless plum tree outside. Arashi flared his chakra in warning, barking sharply as Toshiki dropped to his belly just before another violent bolt of white flashed through the air, slicing through Kamon and punching a hole through the lead dog's chest as it entered the room.

Sparks flew as the two different chakras reacted, Kamon reading a thousand things in that brief contact. Masaru whimpered as Nanori's hand clenched in his ruff, accidentally pulling the hitai-ate around his neck tight. Her chakra roiled around her like a pot about to boil over, simmering slightly as she forced her hand to loosen. Sakumo crouched over her, thrumming a mildly agitated white that Kamon was reluctant to taste again. Kamon's manifested pack crowded in curiously to press against Nanori, grounding her where Masaru could no longer.

She arched up with a strangled cry, fingers digging into the futon beneath her as white bolts shot from her body to be absorbed and dispersed by Kamon. She tasted of pain, anxiety, and anticipation. Kamon couldn't stop itself from wriggling against her with its new dog shapes, nuzzling her swollen belly. Outside a presence approached the front gate, disturbing Kamon and causing its manifested pack to prick their ears in sudden alertness.

Sakumo clasped Nanori's hand momentarily, rising as Kamon's lead dog rushed out in a blur. Outside, the wind had picked up and had started to whip against the compound walls with a flaying chill. Sakumo's long hair billowed and lashed about like the tail of an agitated dog, matching the tense stance of Kamon who stood, barring the gate with hackles raised. _Announce yourself_.

"Sakumo," a woman's voice hissed, almost lost in the wind that had started to howl through the alleyway outside. A faint thud was heard as a powerful fist thudded against the door, forcing its way through the thickest of Kamon's protective layers but stopped short from actually touching the wood. Kamon pushed at the woman with aggravation, disregarding her familiar green and purple chakra.

"Kamon," Sakumo barked, shoving Kamon's manifested dog form aside and reaching for the gate. "It's Tsunade-chan. I called her. Let her in."

Kamon battled Tsunade for a brief moment longer, testing her desperate chakra pulses as she pounded at its barrier. It didn't want anyone else coming in at such an important time. Nanori's cousin was known to be destructive and it didn't want her causing any trouble. The woman broke down at the sight of blood. Kamon couldn't comprehend how she would help. If Tsunade collapsed in a panic, more medics would come. It couldn't possibly monitor that many outsiders with any degree of efficiency and still protect its pack.

"Kamon, let me in," Tsunade cried, pounding a fist uselessly against the barrier-cloaked gate, causing the nafuda to jump slightly. The wind whipped her words away as she spoke them, stinging her face with her own hair. She cried out again, railing against the stubborn ward system with her chakra, determined to let it know she wasn't going to cause trouble this time. She understood its fears, but Nanori needed her more than Kamon needed to worry about her having an episode.

Sakumo yanked at the gate, hands slipping from the barrier-slicked surface. He shouted into the wind, calling to Tsunade. Kamon's dog form pulled at his pant leg, trying to drag him back towards the house. He pushed absently at its head, hand melting almost halfway into its chakra-based form with each shove.

"Kamon! Let her in! Tsunade-chan, keep trying," he yelled, competing with the screaming wind.

With an impish shiver, Kamon waited until Tsunade had wound up to deliver a particularly brutal blow before thinning its barrier and flinging the gate open while its dog form yanked hard on Sakumo's vest, sending him stumbling back as Tsunade tumbled forward. It slammed the gates shut with a solid finality, barrier up before they could blink.

Tsunade snarled with annoyance as she pushed herself off the ground, green and purple chakra throttling Kamon's edges. Kamon's dog form sat on its haunches in front of her, panting soundlessly with a canine grin, eyes flashing blue and white as it blinked innocently. Sakumo could only sigh, patting Kamon's dog form with reluctant amusement. The ward never meant anyone harm, though it did function on its own terms.

"How is she," Tsunade asked, lowering her voice under the wind as she braced herself against a sudden gale.

"She's having a hard time," Sakumo called back. "She's been in labor for far too long and she's losing control over her chakra."

Nanori suffered a particularly strong contraction just then, unconsciously flinging chakra shattering through the room like shuriken. The dogs cowered in the corners of the room as Kamon dissolved from its canid form to absorb the worst of the impacts before reforming as dogs at her sides. It pushed at Sakumo and Tsunade urgently, dog form barking soundlessly and twitching its head toward the house. Tsunade seemed to take a steadying breath, chakra wavering violently, green dominating purple.

Kamon nudged gently at her, patting at the edges of her chakra in a coaxing manner, tasting her anxiety. She staggered forward as the wind changed directions, shoving hard against her back and propelling her towards the house. Sakumo caught her arm as she was buffeted when the wind changed directions again; a rock in the midst of the chaos. She might have called a thanks but it was lost in the wind. Overhead, the dark grey clouds swirled like a slow motion tornado, watching the trio struggle towards the house.

Sakumo came through the door first, accidentally slamming the shoji screen against the wall when the wind tore it out of his hand. Tsunade dragged herself up the stairs close behind, Kamon pushing against her back when she stumbled at the sight of the dogs. Nanori turned her head feebly, stormy grey eyes almost black with pain. She tried to smile, but grimaced slightly instead as another contraction hit her, flaring white with uncontrollable chakra. Kamon melted back into its natural form, surrounding her with a soft pulsating blue, spiking outwards like a sea urchin to catch stray lightning bolts.

Tsunade cursed as a stray burst of chakra escaped Kamon's protective barrier, punching a chakra-charged fist through it as it flew through the air. Kamon almost purred at the surge of purple, receding from around Nanori with confidence. Tsunade snorted briefly at its smug noises as she rushed to Nanori's side. Sakumo struggled with the door for a moment before securing it, huffing slightly as he went to his wife.

The dogs clamored at the edges of the futon, peering over Nanori's massive stomach to eye Tsunade. She barked out orders for towels and bowls of hot water, sending them scattering as they hurried to obey. She propped Nanori's legs up, apologizing as she took a brief glance beneath her yukata. Arashi sat at Nanori's head, eyes locked on Tsunade.

"Hey, kid," he muttered in a low voice, chakra throbbing a deep blue. "You going to be okay doing this? The last time—"

"This is not the same," Tsunade cut in, royal purple flickering tightly over dark green. "I can do this. Nanori needs me. I will not fail her."

"I hope you're sure about that," he murmured, chakra darkening to almost black with worry. Kamon pressed along his back causing his fur to puff out. He shook himself lightly to disperse the static build-up, raised hackles dropping unconsciously with the motion.

"It's almost time," Tsunade murmured, purple chakra dominating the finest fringe of green.

Kamon hummed curiously around them, petting at the edges of their chakra in an attempt to ease their tensions. Sakumo glowed a soft determined white, hands sparking where they held Nanori's as she gripped him hard, arching into another contraction. The rainbows of the ninken's chakra raced through the house as they dragged bowls and towels back into the room. Outside, the large pond in the back glowed with chakra lights as strange fish dissolved into a rainbow of swirls, roiling in a frenzy. Overhead, a slight rain began to fall, peppering the roof with a steady tattoo, drowning out a faint grumbling sound.

Lightning flashed through the washi-covered screens in time with another one of Nanori's powerful contractions, painting the room white like a strobe in concert with her own chakra flash. A half-second later, thunder cracked in the distance, swallowing her agonized cry. Sakumo grimaced, pain flashing along the fringe of his chakra like a razor as she crushed his hand in her grip. Tsunade yelled something that was immediately lost in the echoing rumble as thunder rolled overhead like a stampede of horses. The lights in the room flickered violently, casting it into an eerie chakra-spotted darkness before soaring back to its usual yellow-lit glow.

Masaru leaned against Tsunade as she shouted into a thunder crack again, jade green chakra pressing against her sharp purple one, shoring her up when she faltered. Nanori cried out, flaring a blinding white as the room plunged into darkness. The echoing series of fading flashes as the lightning moved across the cloudbank stuttered their motions like a strobe light. The eyes of the dogs glowed gold in the shadows between flashes, frozen by the light. There was a moment of utter darkness and silence when the world seemed to hold its breath, wind and rain halted, thunderheads heavy with tension overhead. Then a baby's cry split the night air.

The sky lit up as lightning flashed wildly as if in celebration. The air grew tight before exploding with a deafening succession of cracks. Three earth-shaking explosions rocked the house, thrilling Kamon to no end. They came again barely a breath later, making it swell with excitement. A third succession boomed in time with brilliant flashes of lightning, making the dogs tremble in their place. A fourth had them standing, noses pointed to the sky, joyous cries frozen in their throats. A fifth marked Tsunade cutting the baby's umbilical cord. A sixth announced her swaddling the child. The seventh saluted the passing of the babe to its parents, lights flickering to life as the last echoes rumbled away. The dogs crowded the new family eagerly, Kamon eagerly touching the baby before gathering itself to manifest a more solid form.

"A boy," Tsunade rasped, tears running down her face, chakra a volatile swirl of purples and greens. Beside her, Masaru subtly nosed a bundle of blood-stained towels under a clean one, green chakra spiking around him with excitement.

Nanori struggled into a sitting position, arms trembling as she reached out to take her son, tears welling up in dove grey eyes. She glowed with all the beauty of a new mother, flushed from exertion, silvery-white hair sticking slightly to the side of her face. Her baby fit perfectly into her arms, soft white hair sticking out above his round head like a tiny bushy Mohawk, half-lidded eyes blinking up curiously from a pale pink-cheeked face.

"He looks like a little kakashi," she murmured with a delicate laugh, brushing a finger over his cheek. Tsunade snorted at that. Her cousin had always been a little on the fanciful side.

"You want to name him after a scarecrow," she asked, poking a lacquered finger gently into the baby's plump cheek causing his eyes to narrow as he waved a tiny fist in annoyance. Sakumo smiled tiredly, massaging his aching hand.

"It's her son. Let her name him what she will," he murmured, glowing a soft white at the edges with barely suppressed pride.

"Kakashi it is," Nanori whispered, smiling widely, tilting her baby so the rest of the dogs could see him. They wriggled childishly with glee, whimpering in high-pitched whines as they struggled to contain themselves.

Kakashi's eyes were dark and strangely sharp for a newborn, looking to the right at the proud swelling of Kamon who'd re-manifested as a dog, complete with a soaring Mohawk to showcase its joy. His mouth was turned down in that strange contemplative way new babies tend have.

"He looks like a henohenomoheji," Sakumo chuckled, smoothing his new son's frown off his brow. Kakashi turned to look at his father with bright blue eyes, crinkling them to smile slightly, the shallowest of dimples appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"He has a dimple," Nanori breathed, eyes shining like liquid silver.

"What a little heartbreaker," Tsunade chuckled, leaning into Masaru. "You'd better be making me a godmother now."

"You and Jiraiya, if that pervert ever gets here," Sakumo chuckled.

"Jiraiya would make an awful godmother," Tsunade snorted. Nanori giggled at that while Kakashi stared balefully at Tsunade, eyes shifting to the dogs as he reached out to touch Arashi.

Curiously Kamon pressed its manifested nose against the baby, leaning over Nanori's shoulder. Kakashi thrummed with power, glowed with well-controlled pulses of chakra. He reached out unconsciously with his own fiery will, proclaiming to Kamon and the ninken, _I am here_. Kamon trilled lightly in response, manifested Mohawk trembling as elation swelled up inside it. Its barrier outside visibly glowed and spiked with glee, highlighting the porcelain masks bouncing like kodama across the roofs towards the estate.

They were in the midst of war, but Kamon couldn't restrain itself. Lightning rose from the compound in a column to kiss the clouds, rippling outwards like a celestial web. Kamon howled into the rippling cracks of thunder in symphony with Sakumo's ninken, dancing in the courtyard of the compound, unable to withhold their joy. The other wards across the village roused to its joyous call, flashing a rippling rainbow and responding in voices that make the Konoha forest sing, waking the general populace. Kusenbou arched above them all, rippling in a neon-green sea. Kijiki itself rumbled across the village with a trumpeting sound, dancing through the streets in pulses of red and orange, originating from Hokage Tower itself. The shadowed figures of ANBU perched on the rooftops around Hatake Estate were painted with an ocean of color; the perfect honor guard for a newborn. Though they tried, none could out sing Kamon who tore the clouds themselves apart to kiss the moon, demanding it cast a spotlight down on its new master. That night Konoha was no longer the village hidden in the leaves, but the village of light and sound.

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched from his window in Hokage Tower and smiled. It seemed the village had a new citizen. He made a mental note to issue Sakumo some well-deserved paternity leave. With Kamon in such a tizzy, he'd need it.

*******NOTES*******  
http:/ unjaundiced. livejournal. com /107953. html#cutid2


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